Prenatal care content

Many pregnant mothers search everywhere for "100 must-dos for prenatal care" and "complete list of taboos during pregnancy" when they first become pregnant. In fact, to put it bluntly, the core of prenatal care is never a rigid list of taboos, but a dynamic adjustment plan centered around maternal and fetal safety and covering four core directions: physical monitoring, diet and exercise, psychological adjustment, and preparation for labor. There is no unified standard answer, and everything must be adapted to your own physical condition.

Last month, I met Xiao Wu, a 32-week pregnant mother with her first child. She had printed out the online prenatal care checklist and posted it on the refrigerator since she found out she was pregnant. She never touched a crab, walked 8,000 steps a day, and only ate half a bowl of rice for each meal. As a result, her hemoglobin was only 9g during the prenatal check-up. She almost fainted outside the clinic due to hypoglycemia. When I asked her, I found out that she was afraid of high blood sugar and did not even dare to eat grapes. She was so hungry that she felt dizzy every day.

Many people think that prenatal monitoring means regular prenatal check-ups and counting fetal movements. These two are indeed the core, but the specific implementation standards are really not as strict as everyone thinks. Traditional domestic obstetrics guidelines require prenatal check-ups every 4 weeks before 28 weeks, every 2 weeks from 28 to 36 weeks, and once a week after 36 weeks. However, in the past two years, many evidence-based medicine teams in Europe and the United States have also proposed that low-risk pregnant mothers without high-risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, and placenta previa, if they live far from the hospital and have inconvenient transportation, can extend the interval between prenatal check-ups appropriately after the doctor's evaluation, without having to set a hard time. The same goes for counting fetal movements. You don't have to lie down and count for three hours every day. As long as you feel the baby's fetal movements are about the same pattern every day, and there are no sudden movements or long periods of immobility, you don't need to be too anxious. If you really feel something is wrong, go directly to the hospital for fetal heart rate monitoring, which is much more effective than scaring yourself by counting at home for half a day.

When it comes to prenatal check-ups, what many pregnant mothers are most afraid of is that the doctor will tell them "you gained weight too fast" and "your blood sugar is a bit high", and then go home and start the "ascetic" mode, not daring to eat anything. There are actually two mainstream guiding ideas about diet during pregnancy: one is the refined management that is highly recommended by the nutrition community. Daily caloric intake is calculated based on height and weight, staple foods are selected based on GI value, and meat, eggs, milk, and vegetables are weighed by grams. This is suitable for pregnant mothers with gestational diabetes and a large weight base. ； There is also a "relaxed version" that is more commonly recommended by clinicians. As long as your blood sugar test is within the normal range after eating and there is no gastrointestinal discomfort, it is okay to occasionally eat ice cream, half a cup of milk tea, and two crabs. To be honest, I have seen too many pregnant mothers struggle with eating hot pot for a long time because they are greedy, and feel guilty for a long time after eating. On the contrary, mood swings affect hormone levels, which is much more harmful than eating those two mouthfuls of hot pot. The only taboos that need to be clearly stated are tobacco, alcohol, and uncooked meat and sashimi. There is really no need to put so many shackles on yourself for other things.

After talking about diet, we have to mention exercise. Various "midwifery exercises" and "pregnancy yoga" are very popular online now, as if you can't get along if you don't follow them. I met a pregnant mother before who had a low-lying placenta and did squats according to the videos on the Internet. She ended up bleeding and came to the emergency room. She was scared to death. In fact, exercise really varies from person to person. You ran marathons every day before you were pregnant. If you don’t feel any discomfort during the second trimester, you can still walk and jog slowly. If you have problems such as cervical insufficiency or placenta previa, just lie down when the doctor tells you to. Don’t even walk too much. Don’t move around blindly after others say "walk more to have a better life." Your prenatal doctor will know your situation best.

Many people ignore the psychological aspect when doing prenatal care, thinking that pregnant mothers are "pretentious" and "think too much". Last year, I met a pregnant mother who was 34 weeks pregnant. She couldn't sleep for half a month and cried every day while looking at the prenatal checkup report. She was afraid that the baby would be deformed. Her family also said that she was "idle". When we finally came for the prenatal checkup, we gave her a psychological screening. She was already suffering from moderate prenatal depression, and it took almost two weeks of intervention to gradually get better. Nowadays, many hospitals in China have included prenatal psychological screening into routine prenatal check-ups. If you feel unmotivated and have no interest in anything for several days in a row, don't do it yourself. Talk to a doctor. It's really not a shame.

In the third trimester of pregnancy, the busiest thing for everyone is to prepare the delivery package. The most exaggerated pregnant mother I have ever seen prepared three large boxes of things, took them with her when she gave birth, and carried most of them back intact. In fact, preparation for childbirth really doesn’t have to be that complicated. The core is three things: First, ID card, birth certificate, and all prenatal check-up information. Don’t rush to the hospital when your water breaks, and you can’t even find your previous check-up report. ； The second is your own changes of clothes, nursing pads, toilet paper, as well as your baby's small clothes, blankets, and diapers, which are enough for the two or three days of hospitalization. The rest can be bought in supermarkets near the hospital. There is no need to stock up a bunch of milk powder six months in advance, especially milk powder. It is now recommended to start early and suck half an hour after delivery. If you stock up a large jar of breast milk, it may end up being pure breast milk. Leaving it expired is a waste.

After working in obstetrics for so many years, the pregnant mothers I have seen who gave birth to babies smoothly are not the kind who strictly follow the online list one by one. Instead, they are relaxed and go to the doctor in time if there is any problem. Prenatal care is complex. There are many details to consider. It is simple. The core is that you are comfortable and the baby is healthy. That is enough. You really don’t have to make yourself so tired. Oh, by the way, if you are really unsure about what can and cannot be done, asking your prenatal doctor directly is much more reliable than searching online for half a day.